Aston Villa 2024 review and who has been their best player?

A 2024 highlighted look at Aston Villa.

Transcript

00:00Charlie, let's look at Aston Villa and let's just have a quick, brief review on their 2024.

00:06Obviously, I mean, you know, you look at the back end of 2023, they were on fire, beating

00:12Manchester City and Arsenal in the space of a week or so. Then they go into the into the

00:17new year and they are looking fantastic. Obviously, fell in the FA Cup eventually to Chelsea in

00:23a brilliant performance from the Blues. But Villa then just kick on and they had a fantastic

00:28campaign in the Conference League. But then, you know, you thought they were favourites

00:32and they did sort of throw that away. It felt at times, you know, a bit of silverware under

00:38Emre in this fantastic era would have been ideal for fans so far. But then, you know,

00:43obviously qualifying for the Champions League was absolutely massive and starting this campaign

00:48really well. Then they go on a bit of a blip in November, festive period as well to come.

00:53And it's just an interesting one. What do you sort of make of their 2024? Maybe seems

00:57like a bit of a missed opportunity.

01:00Yeah, I think the Conference League, obviously silverware would have been amazing and European

01:04silverware. But most Villa fans would probably say that they'd rather play Champions League

01:08football, which might seem a bit controversial, silverware or silverware, they'd have had

01:12Europa League anyway. But being in the top European competition, especially with the

01:16new rebrand, the new format, it's just such an exciting opportunity. And we've seen so

01:20far being in the top five of the Champions League, league phase of all those 36 teams,

01:26they look as if they could finish in the top eight and advance straight through to

01:28the last 16, which would be an incredible achievement. I think it has worked out for

01:32the best. And considering that, and the fact they qualified in the first place, finishing

01:36in the top four, it's been a hugely successful 2024 for Unai Emre. And obviously things have

01:42dwindled at the start of the season a little bit. They had a winless streak of eight matches,

01:47nearly became nine. That would have been the longest in Emre's Manchurian career, but turned

01:51it around recently. Still inconsistency slipping in. I think injuries haven't helped. He likes

01:56to try and keep a consistent starting 11, and he's not really been able to do that too

02:00often. So to fix your congestion throughout December is also a very difficult thing to

02:04deal with for any team. But there are signs that things are going to improve and kick

02:09on as January arrives. And they want to sign a new right back in the January transfer window.

02:14Also a new attacking midfielder that should be able to fill some of the gaps Emre's been

02:17struggling with. Of course, more like John Duran kicking on as well, and should be able

02:21to help them as they progress in the Champions League.

02:23And who's been the standout player for Villa across 2024? There's obviously been a few

02:28big names that Ollie Watkins had that incredible summer, well, that summer moment for England.

02:34Yeah, I think that kind of encapsulates everything that Watkins was about last season. Scoring

02:39and assisting so many in the Premier League, second only to Cole Palmer last season for

02:43goals plus assists. He's been remarkable. He's been a little bit stop-start at the beginning

02:47of the season. A few small injury problems for him, but he's shown why he's still a very

02:52consistent and clinical striker. Always seems to be beating his expected goals. Recently,

02:57actually, his finishing has dwindled a little bit, but he still remains one of Villa's best

03:01players and probably the best of 2024.